John Sullivan

John Sullivan (17 February 1740-23 January 1795) was a general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
Sullivan was born to an Irish settler family from Somersworth, New Hampshire, and studied law before becoming a general in the Continental Army in 1776. He took part in the Canada Campaign after replacing John Thomas, who had been struck down by smallpox in the winter of 1775. He was defeated at the Battle of Trois-Rivieres and the Continental Congress scapegoated him for their failure to capture Quebec or Montreal.

At the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, he fought the Hessians with a pistol in each hands, and was captured. He was released in a prisoner exchange sometime before the Battle of Trenton in December 1776, and served in many other battles and campaigns. In 1779 he launched the Sullivan Expedition and burnt Kanatahseton, among many other New York Iroquois Confederacy villages. This expedition gave George Washington the nickname "Village Destroyer". He served with distinction in many other battles, and led an expedition against the Cherokee Nations in 1784 after the end of the war. He was a member of the Knights Templar, and his real goal was to uncover the Grand Temple from the tribesmen.

Death
In 1794, he encamped in South Carolina with his expeditionary army, having fought the Cherokee enough for the yeear. After the winter passed in 1795 he prepared to continue on. However, he was discovered dead at the end of January. Assassin Connor Davenpoort entered his winter lodgings and impaled him in the jaw with his hidden blades, and fled the camp. Historically he was supposed to have died in Durham, New Hampshire.